>> good afternoon, i'm lori rothman. the market's flat, the president must have been speaking. >> i'm melissa francis. we are not a deadbeat nation, the words from president obama urging congress to raise the debt ceiling. >> dumping bonds, diving in stocks, records amounts of money flowing into stocks and etfs last week. is that a trend? that's ahead. >> a number you don't here with taxes, 0, but that's what the louisiana governor is proposing, a zero corporate tax rate and income personal tax rate. we have the man who crafted the plan here with more details. interesting. >> that fits me, but how does that get offset? >> there you did. there you go. >> okay. updated on the markets like we do every 15 minutes. nicole, we have bank earnings

out this week. how are broader markets doing? >> a lot going on. friday, the dow went over the unchanged line 50 times, today, no different, back and forth action. the dow is gaining five points, but the nasdaq and s&p both pulling back some, and, of course, the nasdaq weighed down by apple, and let's get financials up for you. today is a weak day of earnings, and names in focus like goldman, bank of america, citi group, and morgan stanley. the group ran up over 26% in the last year, and the estimates have come down considerably from sector to sector so this group, obviously, estimates trimmed to a certain extent. back to you. >> thank you, nicole. president obama addressed the nation on the looming debt ceiling warning a debt crisis could occur if congress does not raise the debt limit. rich edson is in washington, d.c. with the details. rich? >> both sides dug in, and

president obama refuses to negotiate, congress should clear the way and put the responsibility squarely on congress. >> this is a matter of congress authorizes spending. they order me to spend. they tell me you need to fund our defense department at such and such a level. you need to send out social security checks. you need to make sure that you are paying to care for our veterans. they lay all of this out for me, and because they have the spending power, and so i am required by law to go ahead and pay these bills. >> the president did sign all of that in appropriations into law. the white house also saying, the president also says he believes in his administration, they are about half way there in deficit reduction, and that modest changes to health care, entitlement spending could

accompany the closing the tax loopholes. a marker on a future negotiation. house speaker bane says in response that the house does it job and passes responsible legislation that controls spending, meets our nation's obligations, and keeps the government running. we will insist that the democratic majority in washington do the same. republicans on thursday will have their annual conference retreat in williamsburg, virginia to discuss their debt ceiling strategy moving forward. back to you. >> and speaking of responsible bookkeeping as the president was, you're just getting word the president's budget won't be delivered by the february 4th deadline; is that right? >> yes. a spokesman for the house budget committee confirms the white house communicated to them they will not get their budget to the white house on time. this is a deadline they met in the past, although, it's not like the white house will not come out with their budget. releasing the budget. thanks so much. >> from washington to wall street now, eyebrows raisedded

on wall street watching records amount of money flow from stocks as bond rates are near historic lows. is this finally the great rotation out of bonds? that question to bill o'donald, head of treasury strategy at rbs. welcome, bill. great to see you as all. >> thank you. >> the most in equities in 2008. is there a rotation. a what's your take? >> well, my take is that one of the spurs to that slight from bonds to stocks may well have been just over a week ago when the fomc unvailed their minutes of the december fomc meeting, and a number of people, you know, read through those minutes, and as a take away became increasely concerned that quantitative easing may not last in 2013 like most expected. >> we know the federal reserve chairman is speaking this afternoon at 4 p.m. eastern. how critical are these comments to your forecast for interest rates here now going forward? >> oh, i think it's very

critical. we heard from a number of fed speakers over the last week like dennis lockhart today, and we are seeing everybody in the fed lining up over the conduct of qe relative to its effectiveness as well as its risks, but the all important vote, of course, ask the fed chairman's, and i'm sure he'll talk about it in michigan this afternoon. >> use the ten year as the benchmark, is it below 20% for the near term? >> treasuries are in a range. once ben bernanke speaks at four o'clock this afternoon, market attention turns to the economic data we have. we have a lot of that da over the next three days. beyond that, the all important focus on what's going on in washington, 1 washington battles over the hearts and minds of spending cuts. >> the president, moments ago, spoke on the necessity of raising the debt ceiling, that the u.s. has to pay the bills it's racked up or markets could

go haywire causing a self-inflicted wound to the economy. is he exaggerating? what's the take on the remarks in reaction how the debt ceiling sorts itself out? >> i don't think he's exaggerating at all. we have these debates every year right now, and we have the better part of the last 20 years, but it seems like when it comes to the wire, we always find a way to raise the debt ceiling, get washington back to work again, and that is our expectation. the difficulty is that the uncertainty in washington is freezing the treasury mark and investors. >> okay. back to ben bernanke, commenting this afternoon, if he reassures wall street he plans to continue the bond buying for as long as it needs to happen to get unemployment back, to get the economy growing. do you think that will keep rates depressed or signals, yeah, you know, we don't need to continue with this as long as we had initially planned to. do you expect a sharp, a rise in

rates in take it from there. curious to where you think rates are headed. >> lori, between now and the date of sequesteringen on march 1st, treasury yields in a tight range? >> what kind of range? >> i think 1.7% to 2.1%. that's where we see good support and resistance, and 40-point basis range is what i expect. >> thank you so much, bill. great to see you. >> thank you, lori. >> time to move to louisiana. the governor proposing the elimination of all louisiana personal income and corporate tax. that's rate, zero. there could be a higher sales tax. does it work? vice president of legal and state projects for the state tax foundation, and he advised governor's team. welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> what was your advice? what was the imptous behind the plan? >> we have a report every year evaluating how simple, transparent, neutral, and stable

each state tax system is. we go through over a hundred variables to rank states on that. louisiana came out in the 30s, and that's when the governor's office approached us to see, well, what could they do to improve the ranking. they decided to go all the way to be an ambitious plan. if adopted at all, move into the top ten in business friendly tax systems. >> reached out to you to say what can we do to do better and say, immediately, drop the corporate tax rate? >> we gave a range of different options from little things they could do to improve the tax system all the way to dramatic changes, and in louisiana, they get 17% of their revenue from the income tax, a lot of money, but less than other states, and they have incredible tourism, of course, in louisiana with new orleans, and they are looking to see how can they make themselves better, and we proposed to them, and they ran with the idea of just getting rid of these most destructive taxings to economic growth in investment, and those

are the income taxes. >> so if you look at the corporate tax rate and, actually, the total revel knew coming into the state, it's pretty low in 2010 as the most recent stat, 2010-11, $198 million in louisiana. the personal income tax revenue was a whole lot higher from 2010-11, it was $2.4 billion. that's just a little bit lower than the total sales tax revenue right now. to me, that seems like that's going dob a lot of revenue to replace. did you suggest to them that they almost double the sales tax to make up that money or that they cut spending? >> a great question. we went at this, and they are going at it with two fundamental points. one is it needs to be revenue neutral. the legislature can do that separately. the tax system is the one that raises the same revenue. the other is to ensure they

don't harm low income people. they don't need to raise the sales tax rate, but update it. back in the day, they taxed goods because that was the main part of the economy. the reform and other states are looking at is to broaden those two services that we may not be taxing right now. >> hang on, you want them to match the revenue that's going to be lost dollar for dollar with sales tax revenue, no matter how you structure it, it's taxing servicing or higher income depend on, but how you do it, it's regressive. >> it's not on -- unprecedented. there's a lot of states, neighboring texas, washington state, tennessee, ways to make it work, and there's ways to design it to make sure the burden is not being born by low income people. >> yeah. what was the sense from them about whether or not this is going to happen? do you think it's feasible and that they have enough gusto behind it to make it happen. other states who have done it the same thing. texas and florida really jump

out as places where people want to relocate to start a business. do you think they'll do it? >> well, there's a desire in louisiana to change something about the tax system. right now in our global economy, investment and job creators and that can go anywhere in the world so louisiana needs to answer the question why louisiana, and i think this will make them stand out if they manage to implement it. >> thanks for coming on. >> thank you. >> interesting. all right. warning signs for apple, shares below $500 per share, the first time in 11 months. >> a bargain or a big rush to the exit? >> i don't know. >> investigate that further. also, is 75 the new 55? growing older doesn't necessarily mean retirement. the trend of working into your 70s. yeah, you heard that right. ♪

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>> all right, time to make money with charles pape, and today, revisiting apparel coach. they are having a week. >> they are. you guys were skeptical when i was here about coach. just a little bit. >> a little bit, but great points, won me over by the end of the secment. >> two upgrades like deutsche bank. they have a 67 target on it, closes at 59.50, the 200 day moving average. i want to see it higher to be honest, at 61 right now. the next break out is 62.60, and from there, i think, it could really take off. the target is 67, but i think it's still has room to go further than that, all though -- >> what's the catalysts? >> people are feeling better. part of is the low expectations thing, and, also, i think, the product line is looking bet eric and the men's stores we talked about, and i put it on the trading service so we took half as a disciplinary thing, but let the rest run. >> how are the prices? >> they are not cheap.

>> like, what? michael kors? >> higher than that. i think the reason you changed my mind is because of the men's stuff. i bought some for my husband. he liked it. on that point, it was expensive. it was a canvas bag with leather, and it was $400. it was a lot. that was a year ago. he loved it, uses it all the time. we bought more since then. >> by the way, the women's bags, also, starting to get up there at 600 bucks. >> really? i didn't know that. >> that's lv territory. lauren doesn't care unless it's four figures. >> charles payne, thanks so much. >> thank you, see you later. >> time for a market check with nicole on the floor of the exchange with positive action for sears in particular today. nicole? >> that's rights. it always brings confidence along with insiders buy more of the company, and in this case, you see sears jumping over, almost 8% at the moment, and this is as eddy, now going to take on the ceo role in early

february. upped his stake in the company to 65.5% from 62.2%. the ceo stepped down, in that role for about two years because of a family medical condition, and so, obviously, you have lambert showing confidence in the company. the stock is not struggling up in the last 52 weeks. >> nicole, thank you. afford mercedes, those two words not said in the same word, but that may change. live at the noter -- north american auto show with a look at the new benz next. >> not quite as pretty, but the dollar is stronger. back with more at this ♪

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>> can they get the luxury car back on top with a baby benz aimed at younger customers? we are at the a toe show to talk

stiff competition from bmw and audi, jeff? >> it appeals to me, the cars that you're looking at right here, appeal to people my age, the e class, the all new e lass, and i'm honored to be joined by one who knows more about the u.s. auto market than most serving for five years as ceo of chrysler, but i think the big headline, although, look at the buzz around the e class is this cla250 which is going to be unvailed next week in berlin. it's a smaller one and younger people may buy it. >> that is correct. they are a compact car, four door coupe, emotional design, grades, technology, safe car, just a true mercedes with an entry level price below what we offer today. >> below, in the $30,000 range; right? >> a good guess. g not priced yet. you want to have younger buyers.

you battle with the friends at bmw, and, by the way, the germans have 5% of the u.s. car market. you're in a struggle with them over sales. putting the numbers up, this could definitely happy with that, with that younger buyer. >> for sure, i mean, we want to expand. we have very loyal customers, the most loyal customer base of all brands. of course, you want to grow, and that we need younger buyers that are an important group, the generation y, and this is a great offer for them. >> mercedes benz is obviously acknowledged it's inventing of the motor car, and i don't often buy cars. i have a ford explorer that i had for about 15 years, but i bought a new car last week, new to me, i never bought a new car. it's a 1984 mercedes sl -- >> wow. >> 380sl. looked at the pictures, and the problem is you have a great history, and sometimes that's a burden, isn't it? >> well, first of all, it's a

great effort of ours because it shows we are the ones who invented the car, who are the leaders of that pack, but, of course, you have to stay with the change in time and stay very attractive and exciting going forward, and that's what we can accomplish with this new vehicle. >> news, perhaps, before we get away, i saw a report the board will extend your contract for five years to lead benz. truth? >> false. i'm not the guy who has to make this decision. if it were to happen, i would have to accept it, but it's reasonable. >> you are willing to serve? >> i have the most exciting job, so why shouldn't i? >> thank you so much for your time as always, one of the most knowledgeable executives in the world of automotive. >> jeff, thanks so much. you just happened to have a pick of your car with him at work today. so cute. day one of the north american

car show in detroit. winner already crowned. cadillac's atf luxury sports sedan named car of the year, and the etf is the lightest car in the class offering rear wheel and all-wheel drive versions and four and six cylinder engines. it's not the first award. it recently was destowed with a five star overall crash test rating as well and esquire's car of the year. >> not your granddaddy's cadillac. >> i guess not apparently. >> 65 is the new normal retirement age, many americans work later in life, and, in fact, the number of workers 75 and older skyrocketed by 77% in the last two decades according to the aarp. reasons american workers may decide to put off retirement vary from loving the jobs to needing the money, and the fear of rising cost in medical bills. while the 75-plus group of

workers jumped, it's a small percentage of the labor force representing 8% last year, up 4% from 1990 due in part to a mandatory retirement age of 70 for many jobs. i hope i'm here when i'm 85 reporting on markets. >> you're going to have to pry me out. we'll sit here with the glasses, the two of us. >> herbal light sales come bag, we have exclusive new details ahead. >> plus, economists, who should play ben bernanke who his term is up? hard to say good-bye. look at today's winner and losers on the s&p 500. ♪

lori: okay. breaking news, some good news. former president george h.w. bush has been released from the hospital. president bush was being treated for bronchitis, bacterial infection and persistent cough. he was hospitalized for many months. at one point in intensive care. he is clearly on the mend. good news. president george h.w. bush out of the hospital. melissa: time for stocks as we do every 15 minutes. let's head to the floor of the new york stock exchange with nicole petallides standing by. rating changes from jpmorgan. >> jpmorgan is looking at ibm and hewlett-packard today. both are dow components. you can take a guess by looking which one got the upgrade and which got the downgrade. hewlett-packard was the worst performer on the dow in 2012 is doing much better.

they raised hp to neutral from underweight. they are talking about the fact that it can't get much worse. so to my point the fact that they had a rough 2012. on the other hand they're cutting the price target on ibm. to 197 from $215. they're concerned that investors become less interested with the stock give the company's limited upside potential and muted revenue growth profile. so this is obviously at a time when broader tech and markets could be bottoming. certainly they are looking at ibm very closely. that is down nearly 1% today. back to you. lori:. melissa: nicole, thanks so much. lori: herbalife shares surging today as short seller bill ackman is pressuring to to keep the pressure on the beleaguered company. charlie gasparino is here. >> look at the chart kind of says where the stock was and where it is now. shows you where ackman was, right, back in december,

trading around 40. we pierced that. this is pretty interesting. the company's shares are urge sealing up another 8%. i haven't seen the latest stock charts. why are they up? last week they had a company presentation. what went up on news we foreshadowed first on fox business that dan lobe had a major investment in it. now what we have is two sort of interesting events that don't really, you know, add or detract from what ackman is saying, that is the company is a pyramid scheme. it will run out, in a pyramid scheme you make money by more distribution, not by selling products. distributors pay you a fee. at some point the distributors run out. these two events don't necessarily detract from that argument that it is a pyramid scheme. but they provide a lift. one argument they will preannounce earnings that will be pretty good at decent analyst expectations or maybe beating them a bit. number two, right after they do that, they will do that this week apparently there will be a stock buyback.

those are two headlines you see herbalife up on. they don't detract from ackman is saying. ackman is about to come out with his questions. he wants --. melissa: he is not being baing down at all? >> if you know anything about bill ackman, i know the herbalife people are gearing up for this, he will keep attacking them. he is very persistent. waited for year and years, mbia short to come true. started talking about it being a problematic company back in 2005 way before the financial crisis. made his money in 2008. first part of 2008, i remember this, bond insurers, they started improing, mbia, ambac, and he started cashing in. what people are close to ackman saying this will be a at least a year-long story with both sides fighting it out of the you have two investigations going on. you have an sec investigation into the company and its, what it touts as in its financials.

i think the ftc, federal trade commission, is coming back looking at them again. we should point out the legal definition of a pyramid scheme is set by the ftc. lori: if herbalife turns out not to be proved by the ftc a pyramid scheme. >> sec. lori: whatever agency tends to reassure us, right does herbalife have a case against ackman? >> well, they have hired david boies. i tell you that. ackman thinks he will be sued any day now. that is what he believes he hears coming from the boyce land, the famed attorney that represented herbalife. melissa: don't retain someone like that lightly. >> we had dez walsh, on, i don't know if you saw the that story, he basically suggested they are getting ready it sue them. he didn't say they were but when you go into battle he said, i'm kind of paraphrasing a little bit, you go in with your a-team. he is into battle. battle usually means, you are going to court.

melissa: don't want to run out of time without a quick comment from jpmorgan. >> jamie dimon's bonus will get cut. everybody knows that. it has been reported in the journal and other places. i really don't care. i don't think jamie cares that much. i would say this. here's, they will come out with a report. they will get dinged by the comptroller of the currency on whale trades, how they conducted those trades from the investment office. remember, that office was investing the bank's portfolio. they took, what, a $7 billion hit on this thing? we should point out amid that $7 billion hit, jpmorgan earnings will have earnings of $21 billion for the year. what does that mean in context? only one bank as far as i know had more earnings than jpmorgan's 21 billion that is coming out and that is city group in

businesses. there are some manufacturing but you have to give --. melissa: not on share part. they take advantage of the environment put out there. >> not some brilliant business acumen going into this. that being said, jamie dimon run as very profitable bank. if you think about it, put london whale in perspective. i have never been a very big story. people screwing up and going nuts afterwards. lori: we're informed nonetheless. thank you. melissa: charlie, thanks so much. the dawn of the ice age, what will the intercontinental exchange deal for euro nyse be for trading? lori: federal reserve chairman ben bernanke's term set to expire next year. speculation is mounting who

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lori: here's your fox business brief. coca-cola taking on obesity. the beverage maker is airing two minute ads showing provided drinks with fewer calories over the years and the obesity epidemic is not a result of its drinks but because people are consuming too many calories of any and all kinds. horizons family solution to making its way back to wall street. ipo could fetch as much as $212 million. bright family was on the nasdaq until 2008 when it was taken by bain capital. swatch group is buying the harry winston watch group for one billion dollars, assuming debt. the companies are considering creating a diamond polishing joint venture. that is the latest from the fox business network, giving you the power to prosper.

lori: who should be the next federal reserve chairman? one in five economists surveyed by "wall street journal" would like to president obama reappoint current chairman ben bernanke. only problem he is not interested in stick being around. lou dobbs is here. are you interested? >> look at this, a year before the job actually opens. bernanke is doing just fine, despite everything, why, this is the thing --. lori: jack lew in treasury and that relationship and some concern about where we go with the fiscal policies so zeroed in right now? >> let me say, comparing jack lew and ben bernanke is a little tough because bernanke has demonstrated through --. lori: they have to work together. >> i understand, but i mean, i'm talking about in terms of their contribution to the recovery from the financial crisis of 2007, 8, pick your number at the end of that.

i think bernanke is going to down in history as one of the finest fed chairman. i think it is really an open question whether he would want to continue. he may. or certainly whether the president would reappoint him. but the fact is, he has done a heck of a job by any measure. lori: how the president characterizes bernanke that the fed is creative considering all the action they have done. if he does leave at the end of the term they will go with dovish janet yellen person or more hawkish, richard fisher type? >> the answer to that obviously. i hope we have someone as intelligent and capable in that job as ben bernanke as we have had over the course of his term at the fed. he has been remarkable in my opinion. lori: switch topic as little bit. everybody is buzzing about the president's speech this morning, referring to the debt ceiling and america. we're not deadbeats. do you think anything was accomplishes at all or just more of the same? >> he accomplished something. he changed his tone a bit.

he acknowledged that congress has a constitutional power and authority over the purse strngs. i think it was really remarkable to hear the president actually admit that congress had a right to its view, its opinions and its votes. that is big. the second thing in it all he made it very clear that anyone who disagrees with him lacks common sense and good judgment. he think anyone who is for guns is obviously not common senseal or prud don't or as -- prudent or enlightened as he. he acknowledged in his tone knows he will get his butt kicked in the political battle over guns the fact is, this media coalition that has been formed to drive the assault on the second amendment, the media, is not going to be strong enough to do get that done. it lacks the political wherewithal to --. melissa: you think he realizes that? >> i think he is getting a sense of it. i don't think he did until just maybe the last few

days. but when a man sits up there and basically says on every issue all his open points are fools and he is the only one that god granted any kind of vision, which is by the way undetectable to the rest of us, he knows he is in a losing corner. melissa: he keeps bringing this argument on the debt ceiling i think is so false how we racked up the bills and how we're now trying to say we don't want to pay them. who would possibly issue you more credit when you haven't put forward a plan how you're going to spend within your means within the future? american dress will not raise your limit when you can't pay it simply because you want more credit? you need to have a workout plan to deal with your debt before someone will loan you more money. >> i love this nonsense that he is spewing about being, we're not a deadbeat nation. thank you, mr. president. god we're so thrilled to have your blessing on that reality. that kind of nonsenseal talk, nonsenseal, not common senseal talk, is really the

stuff that doesn't belong in a white house. it doesn't belong in the discussion. we are a debtor nation. we have been a debtor nation for quite some time. the issue is how to change it. i love the capricious way, if the problem were just about reducing deficits. mr. president, that is exactly what it is about. it is about cutting spending. it is about getting this government under control and its leadership under control i might add as well. lori: that was a good interchange. >> both over on the hill and on pennsylvania avenue. melissa: all right, lou. lori: a lot to chew on as wuls. always. thanks for joining us. >> you look so royal and majestic in purple. melissa: that is what we're going for in fact. lori: you can catch lou with these two princesses every day at this time. and 7:00 and 10:00 eastern every night. catch david keane, the president of the nra to talk about the ongoing debate of gun control. melissa: look forward to that. lori: as we do every fifth

attorney minutes let's check the markets. nicole is on the floor and watching facebook. >> this was a $38 ipo in may. it was down to 20 bucks. it has been climbing the last three months. it was above $32. tomorrow is the big announcement, what will facebook tell us? they sent out a media event invitation last week saying come and see what we're building. today deutsche bank put a buy rating on the company with $40 price target. everybody is eagerly anticipating what tomorrow will bring, what is their announcement? is it something to do with mobile ads? is it an app? is it a phone or new building? all questions remain. we've seen the stock running up. piper jaffray also making comments saying they will likely announce modest upgrades at this event. deutsche bank is loving what they're doing with mobile news feed ads and those are the game-changer and moving quickly with that back to you. lori: renewed attention on facebook. thanks, nicole. melissa: speaking of the

new york stock exchange, nicole, might be the last one down there with the intercontinental exchange $8 billion bid fort myerscy euronext. the future of floor traders could be in jeopardy. computers marge alized the role of humans. there are 300 traders on the floor of the new york stock exchange. that is compared to 3,000 back in 2007. charlie gasparino was making the point before they left, they cut it so thin. and there is so much computer trading already, hard to believe it will be go lower. not sure i buy the report. lori: hurt the economy in lower manhattan. the computers are so much faster. better than humans executing the trades. melissa: i don't know, that is debatable, when you look what happened at the nasdaq for example, with facebook. everybody makes the argument when somebody bad happens it helps to have humans there. lori: there is human error side of it too, knight capital, right? i don't know. i think it is an icon. i think the floor of the new york stock exchange is iconic american capitalism and should do everything they can to preserve it.

they closed the visitor center after 2001 and after 9/11. that was such a resource. that is no longer there. they should do whatever they can do to preserve part of our history and our heritage. i-fail. apple shares crumbling on a new warning on the iphone five. melissa: can't let go, you have your cell phone, tablet and phone internet. how much is it costing you to keep your family wired. ♪ . [ woman ] if you have the audacity to believe your financial advisor should focus on your long-term goals, not their short-term agenda. [ male announcer ] join the nearly 7 million investors who think like you do. face time and think time make a difference.

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melissa: shares of apple taking a dive today, temporarily dipping below 500 bucks a share for the first time in nearly a year. so is the tech giant losing its shine? shibani joshi joins us with the story now. what do you think? >> this is the talk of the tech world. not just taking down apple shares, down 3.6% but the nasdaq is down. anything that has sort of touch point with apple. chip-makers, display makers everyone is reacting to this news. here is what "the wall street journal" reported this morning. apparently the tech giant cut its order for iphone 5 components. we're talking about lcd four-inch screens made by sharp and lg and other components by half. melissa: wow. >> that is magnitude of quantity we're talking about here. the news may signal of course to the street and everyone else out there that apple, the iphone isn't selling as well as we thought it was. and apple, the iphone, is its core bread and butter product. it is the key revenue

generator and margin contributor to the earnings report and bottom line. this is what people are taking seriously today. melissa: begs the question, what is the problem? is samsung coming in and eating up their market share? >> i think it is about a lot of different things. samsung a few years ago was a number two, number three player. this last year it has come to dominate the smartphone face. it is number one seller. look the market share in the last quarter. apple has 14.6% market share. melissa: wow. >> down from 23% and now samsung is the number one maker and shipper of global smartphones, 31.3%. this is all in the third quarter, according to idc. on top of this, this morning, smartphone just adds a trump card onto the mix. 100 million phones of the samsung s-series of smartphones. this took samsung less than three years to get to the 100 million unit mark.

it took apple four years to do it. it is not able to compete with samsung in the way, not a one-horse show anymore really. >> i still use an old iphone. i think a 4. i wonder if iphone is saturated. i'm perfectly satisfied. is 5 much more fancier. melissa: i know people go in to get one, it is cheaper. there are more samsung options. you get wooed away from the iphone when you go into verizon or at&t when you look at samsung. >> all these other players are taking the fact they comb out with cheaper phones, have the android operating system and sell it in a way that makes carriers happy and reaches out to different audience base there. they're just taking on a bigger audience. lori: any way you slice it ain't cheap to have all these tech know gizmos. before you pick up the latest gadget you may consider the actual cog of

owning it. according to bureau of labor statistics average american family spent more than $2,000 a year, land line, internet, cell phone services, more than $200 a month. that is up 21% from 2006 and roughly 4.4% of the entire household budget. households earning more than $100,000 a year, spend more than $3,000 each year and $250 a month but are your ipads and smartphones really worth it? if you were to take the $250 and put it in retirement account. here is the math. earning 5% in investment it is would yield $208,000 over 30 years. with people living longer, they need more retirement dollars, hear a stat like that is significant dent when you do the math. >> where could you earn 5% i would like to know. lori: stocks, emerging markets they're are all kinds of invests. >> i don't think this is accurate sort of reflex. the reason we're spending

more on technology because it does so much more for our lives. we're not maybe buying movie tickets because ordering netflix subscription service. we're maybe shifting and have a higher cell phone bill because we're cutting the cord and not doing the land line. it does so much more. it makes us more productive. we enjoy life. it is prelacing -- replacing other things. lori: don't cut the cord. enjoy. melissa: i love it. thank you. lori: weight watchers, one of several companies moving up its dividend during the fiscal cliff county down but now facing fallout from the fiscal cliff tax hike. david kir chof joins tracy children's next. keep it here. you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person.

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tracy: welcome back. i'm tracy byrnes. let the debt ceiling battle begin. president obama calling on congress to raise the limit without delay. house speaker boehner says

spending cuts must be part of any increase. who will win and how will it impact the already fragile economy? we're looking for answers on that. general motors takes the prize. the cadillac ats wins car of the year at the north american auto show. gm also announcing record chevy sales. plus new plans for its corvette. my favorite car. and gm north america president mark reuss tells us all about it. that is live coming up from detroit. weight watcher's ceo is here too. he was one of the corporate america's loudest voices leading up to the fiscal cliff. now that paychecks are smaller in 2013 how worried is he about the impact on his business? david kir chof here as well it is time for stocks. nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. we're basically flat-lining. >> not far off the unchanged

line. the trend is slightly higher. that's right, on friday for example, we went over the unchanged line on the dow 58 times. which way does this market go? dow jones industrials are up 4 1/2 points while the nasdaq and s&p are lower and certainly weighed down by apple. we have earnings season underway. we will focus a lot on the financials as well. let's take a closer look at apple here. 591 -- 500.91 cents a share. having to cut orders in half for the screens for the iphone 5 components. they don't need as many components as they thought because the demand for the iphone 5 is not as good as they thought that is not good news for apple so they have pulled back. this was a $700 stock in september. we're looking forward to the interview with david kirchhoff, he was here the other day celebrating 50 years. he said nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. >> he is client and

interested in talking to him too. president obama urging congress to raise the debt ceiling to raise the budget and avoid another economic crisis. rich edson at the white house with details. hey, rich. >> good afternoon, tracy. president obama said will not entertain any other options on the debt ceiling except congress raising it without attached. congress ordered him to spend the money and must correspondingly raise the debt ceiling. he signed the president into law as levels generally below what he requested in his budgets. house republicans say they want any increase in the debt ceiling to be accompanied by spending cuts that exceed the amount of the debt ceiling increase. president obama said the election settled that. >> if we want to have a conversation about how to reduce our deficit, let's have that. we've been having that for the last two years. we had an entire campaign about it. and by the way the american people eye greed with me. that we should reduce our deficits in a balanced way that takes into account the

need for us to grow this economy and put people back to work. >> the president says he reduced deficits with congress during his administration by $2 trillion over 10 years. he says, we're halfway on deficit reduction as where he wants to be. he says he is open to modest changes on health care spending so long as they are accompanied by cuts to tax deductions. the reaction from senate republicans, from senate minority leader mitch mcconnell saying, we are hoping for a new seriousness on the part of the president with regard to the single biggest issue confronting the country and we look forward to working with him to do something about this huge, huge, problem. the treasury department has yet to update exactly when we will exceed the debt ceiling, though some private analysis put it anywhere between the middle of february to the very beginning of march. back to you. tracy: rich, this is such a tough sell for the american people. our paychecks are smaller. i can't call the credit card company, by the way, can you raise my limits for kicks? and that is what is

happening down there. >> that is the president's point. the money is already appropriated. it is on the way to being spent. it is already in law but what republicans argue, this is an action forcing event. the debt ceiling increase is remind forea generation that the u.s. must tackle its debt and deficit problems. that is why there must be spending decreases, something they say wasn't a part of the deal the president just signed to avert, at least some of the fiscal cliff. tracy: here we go again. if february 15th is the big day, that would mean your poor wife will probably be alone on valentine's day, rich edson. god bless you. >> there are worse things. tracy: buy her a box of chocolate. with earnings season getting in full swing this week our next guest says results could provide a base for the market to move higher especially because expectations are so darn low. joining us, margie battle, wells fargo advantage funds senior portfolio manager. earnings are low but doesn't bode well for what we'll

hear out of these companies, does it? >> well i think some companies have done some preannouncements where they're expecting their growth to slow down because we should have some pretty low gdp growth for the next several months because of all the uncertainty. however, most companies have high cash flow and i wouldn't be surprised to see some companies actually have some strength to say their growth might pick up either selectively or as they go further through the year. with expectations so low i think that might be enough to set a base to have stocks move higher especially when treasurys are anchored so near zero. tracy: all they have to say is the outlook stablized. doesn't have to say it is getting better, right? they have to say it is on status quo and that is good enough for the market to run. >> i think so. when you look at stocks in general the cash flow is so high, so far above the yields of treasurys, even competitive with high yield bonds, dividends are also rising. really says we may have a

little correction in the first quarter but stocks will be the best asset class this year. tracy: we saw $18 billion dumped in mutual funds and exchange traded funds for the week ending wednesday. you think this is typical everyone got extra money in christmas and january effect type of thing or is this a trend the movement into equities? >> i think it is the beginning of a trend. it will be slow and uncertain and have some tradeoffs back and forth, especially when you look at last year in 2012. many parts of the bond market, high yield bonds, long-term investment grade bonds did just as well as equities. there is no rush until we get into this year when i think you will see much lower bond returns. tracy: margie, patel. thank you. i apologize we have to cut this short. we have breaking news. thank you. >> thanks. tracy: nicole, we'll head down to you on the floor. what you got? >> want to look at dell. dell is now halted. dell hitting circuit breakers, moving up 10%, soaring on the report they may be in talks with some

private firms in order to make, move this to a buyout. we'll see what happens here with dell. it is currently halted. this is being reported on the bloomberg wires as well. it is up about 10% right there at the close, at the halt time. so will be halted. i'm sure we'll hear either news pending they will sort of sort out the orders and get it reopened. dell's primary market is not here at the new york stock exchange but, of course the traders are the first ones to actually tip me off on this because they have internal ways of speaking amongst themselves, among the big houses. obviously it had heavy trading, hit the circuit breakers and now halted taking a break here as news develops on the possibility of maybe going private. back to you. tracy: thanks, first quarter coal. keep us updated on all that. all right switching gears a little bit, how would you like to take this for a spin? chevy unveiling the new corvette stingray. i got to tell you, my uncle had a 1980 stingray.

it was so hot. that is pretty good-looking. gm north american president mark reuss says it is the reason he works for the company. i don't blame him. he is live from the auto show next. plus weight watchers moved up the dividend to before the fiscal cliff. it is bracing for impact of smaller paychecks on consumer spending. ceo david kirchhoff is here. first as we do every day this time of day look how oil is trading. dow is up 16 points. dell is halted. nicole will keep us posted. oil is basically flat, $93.55 a barrel [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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tracy: follow-up on breaking news. dell shares have just resumed trading. now the shares were halted just moments ago. there were reports that the company is potentially in talks with private equity firms for a potential buyout. nicole petallides will keep

us posted on that. we'll get to her in just a few minutes. but right now general motors is hoping to make waves in the eight toe industry brings back once, come on, not once, still popular chevy corvette model i'm concerned, with a whole new design. jeff flock live from the north american international auto show in detroit. i grew up with corvettes. the 1980s where the front tires come at you, my favorite car on the planlet. >> we saved it for you, this whole report. that is an '84 right there. that is an '84 stingray. you probably remember that one. this is --. tracy: my favorite moment of the show. did they do that on purpose? i swear to you we'll get that back because i want to see that car. we'll get back to jeff flock when we can. but first, we've got to check on markets. the dow is up 20 one points. nicole petallides following that breaking news on dell. what have you got, nicole? >> well, i'm still chewing

at this moment, but, dell's shares are trading at their highest point. i eat launch and watch charts and talk to traders at the same time. we have the stock moving to a new session high. these are not annual highs. we should be very clear. that is way off the annual high. however the stock is soaring on this news. we're talking about the fact that, there have been reports that they may be moving and talking along with some private equity firms in order for potential buyout for the company. this was reported on bloomberg. we found it out by traders on the floor. that is one of the beauties being fox business right here on the floor, embedded with all the floor traders who are the first to realize when there is volume and volatility in a particular stock. that is what we're seeing here with dell. the stock was briefly halted. it resumed trading. now that the news has come out. stock remains to the upside, which means that the people are still interested in this news. i'm sure it will develop more and more so. however the stock remains

12% to the upside, big move here, for dell. a stock actually that is down over the last 52 weeks. over 30% over the last 52 weeks. here is dell coming off the highs of the day, the highs of the session. clearly this intraday chart is very, very telling. it shows you right when the news broke they may be in talks with private companies in order to have a buyout. stock shoots higher. gets halted and now resumes trading. still very nice move here for, i was checking up to see if the nasdaq composite if we see any other relation in the tech realm. you know, dell, for example, may be in some of the other indices. there you go. certainly a big move there for dell. back to you. tracy: nicole, thank you. thanks for jumping in in the middle of hundred. >> there is no lunch. tracy: i know. god blesser had. she doesn't stop. we have to go back to jeff flock at the north american international auto show in detroit with the corvette.

jeff. >> i appreciate that very much. we do not want to miss the corvettes. we showed the old one and almost missed the new one. this is the new corvette. mark, you said last night this is the reason you work for this company. >> very true, jeff. we changed and brought back the name of stingray to this generation of c-7s. we think it is so dramatic from design standpoint and technology performance. this is technological tour de force. we've been working on it for three years since bankruptcy. this was a big deal inside the company. we all right around it. >> big deal the way the chevy volt is big deal. not so much how many you sell, more because you don't want to sell a bunch of them. >> right. more. >> more about what it means to the company. >> right. that is the reason i came to work for general motors. i want to work for the company that made corvette. it is unapologetically american. it is beautiful as always and obtainable. this is supercar that is really obtainable. >> not on my paycheck.

>> no, i think it is. i really do. you can aspire to this and obtain it. a lot of people -- >> starts where? >> i will not price it here on fox. but -- >> thought i had you there for a second. we were talking about these old ones, being, 60, 70 grand. less than that maybe? >> i think so, absolutely. and, especially a 53 or a 66 big block, it will be less than those. >> have to show the 53. spin slowly so we don't lose the picture. this is the 53. this has a tremendous future. gm has a lot of new unveils coming this year. you think you're well-positioned as long as the economy doesn't go to hell. you heard president obama today. he will not negotiate on debt ceiling limit raise. if we get a shutdown of the government, what does that do to your business? >> well i, think you have to look at break even point what the industry is. the industry is functioning now on a lot of pent-up demand from the global

financial crisis. we can break even at 11 million units and a lot of other people can too. the business and capacity business basis is structured completely different than before the global financial crisis so we feel good about that. >> bring it on says mark reuss, but not really. there you go. there is your corvette, girl. tracy: if we pool our paychecks maybe we could like buy it together and switch off every other weekend. >> i don't need it every day, exactly. we could swap it back and forth. share it even some days. tracy: we should discuss this. no children allowed. we just share it. >> exactly. exactly. no kids. tracy: it is beautiful. thank you, jeff. >> isn't it? yes it is a gorgeous one. tracy: coming up we have to talk more about dell. now the shares are trading again, surging nearly 13% on reports it may be going private. we'll have more on that next. we'll go down to nicole petallides on the floor. weight watchers, one of several consumer companies bracing for the impact of our smaller paychecks in

2013. ceo david kirchhoff weighs in next. first as we head out to break, let's look how the dollar is faring against foreign currencies. we'll be right back. >> announcer: you never know

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tracy: let's get back to that breaking news. dell shares surging now 17% on reports it may be going private. here with the latest our very own sandra smith. hey, sandra. >> tracy, let's get the intraday chart to give everybody an idea what is happening. as i speak the hitting session highs. the stock was halted pending news. the company is not commenting on the reports it could be taken private. look at this stock, up 18% right now. we're looking at $12.71 a share. continuing to tick higher making new highs. i want to show you something as the news continues to unfold, i want to bring up at least a three-month chart to show you what the stock is doing. it has been severely making a comeback from lows it hit in late 2012. it right now, a she-month heart. this is up -- 3-month chart, that is up 25% that would not include today's gains. it put up a substantial come

back from this. dell shares have lost more than a quarter of their value over the past year. so keep that in mind as the speculation continues to grow as reports surface that dell could be taken private. so this story still developing, tracy. tracy: sandra smith, thank you very much. we'll keep on top of that. all right, weight watchers, one of the companies to move up its quarterly dividend last month in anticipation of higher taxes. the tax rates on investment income for top earners did go up. so it was a good move. those on the lower end of the pay scale also took a hit with the expiration of the two year payroll tax holiday. as a result millions of workers are seeing way smaller paychecks. i know i screamed on friday. what does this mean for $4 billion weight loss industry? joining us david kirchhoff, ceo of weight watchers and author of the book, weight loss boss. you're a client. >> i am. tracy: fantastic results obviously. >> four years, lifetime member. tracy: back in november you

were on neil cavuto on the news channel saying you were worried with would happen with the cliff. >> right. tracy: here we are with the debt ceiling debate, you still have to be worried. >> less, by a lot. the idea of everybody's income tax rates going up to the degree they could have without working this out could have been much more catastrophic to the economy. certain things have to be done. i'm much less concerned now than i was two months ago. tracy: we do have people with smaller paychecks. >> yes. tracy: your fees run, what, about sign-up is $50. comes down to a month? >> less than that. >> most people do meetings, monthly pass. no sign-up fee. $42.95 a month. weight watchers less than $10 a week. weight watchers online is less than $10 a month. tracy: are you worried this is one of the things i drop? >> if you look at the cost of obesity the way it impacts individuals and insurance companies and employers, the cost of

diabetes, cost of heart disease, cost of cardiovascular, it is the best investment you can make from roi point of view as being healthy. from our point of view we focus on that value message. tracy: you hope that is how people are thinking, right. >> right. tracy: at the end of the day if i pay a little bit now to take care of myself it helps the entire economy down the road with health care costs on the rise. >> big-time. tracy: you still have people wanting to show up at meetings? $4 billion industry, how do you differentiate yourself? >> we're completely different. which is, our approach is to give people a science-based program that has been demonstrated. we turned 50 this year. we know what we're doing. we have a science based program we launched new version of. by far the best one we ever had. comprehensively helps people get to consistently healthy lifestyle. we surround them with tools, apps, website, you name it, we got it. to help people get there and not just lose the weight but keep it off. >> are other systems that

require you to buy their food. they could be hurt more so, don't you think, that is way more out of pock get for me. here i'm making my own choices. i can use coupons at the food store. >> that's right. with our program have you eat real food. tracy: right. >> have you be smarter about it. vegetables are expensive, you go to frozen vegetables. there are a million strategies to be on a budget. tracy: talk about the stock. it has gotten hurt over the last year down 12% although we saw it pop over the last month or so. is that because jessica simpson is coming in as the new spokesperson possibly. >> we're running 11 tv spots right now. they feature real-life members. they're all real-life members. they feature regular folks. they feature celebrities. it's a mix. i think when i look at our long-term future, the role weight watchers plays in the health care system, combating obesity, the degree we're differ rernt eighted, science-based, clinically proven, we feel

the future has everything going for us and that's what is we go against. tracy: you brought in jennifer hudson, charles barkley. it was your idea to bring the superstars in. what has that done for the company. >> you're giving me too much credit. tracy: it was under your rein. >> you could not hope for a better partner than jennifer hudson. she is still our partner and fantastic. we have had a great partnership with charles. we like to work with a mix. anything that can give people a bird's-eye view what success looks like and create that sense of belief and aspiration we're all for it. >> we'll take it. weightwatchers.com. check it out. earnings february 11th. david thanks for being here again. >> thanks for having me. tracy: after the holidays, maybe i should log on. on deck, dell shares surging nearly 15% on reports it may go private. we'll have more on that next. a dubious milestone on apple shares, on new concerns for iphone demand. how low will they go?

first a look at some of today's winners and losers as we head out to break.

>> all right. breaking news on dell just releasing this statement. quote, we do not comment on rumor or speculation, that from a dell spokesperson. it is half past the hour. looking at the dow, 30, interestingly enough, nicole, you got dell as your big winner, apple as your big loser, and gm, the new sting ray, unchanged, and you have a guest there to

comment on this. >> let's talk to joan who can make light of this. let's start with the latest, greatest breaking news here which is that dell may be talking to at least two firms, accord and whether or not they could move forward. dell's market cap jumping now above $22 billion. what do you think of this? >> you know, clearly, michael dell is a smart, innovative man, and i think with the uncertainty of the economy moving forward, tax laws, and different ways of navigating the tax circumstances moving forward, a lot of companies start looking at this, start to reel the reigns in a bit and see if they privatize themselves, will they be flexible in the future. >> do you think they might be? >> i'm not sure exactly. i have not seen the details yet. this is, clearly, like, turning a large cruise shim on a dime, a mammoth operation, and to pull the reigns in could be tougher than we think, but, clearly, they exhaust themselves looking

at the opportunities there. >> talk about the broader market. friday, over the unchanged line 58 times for the dow. today, much of the same. yet, people think the trend is not upside despite the fact earnings have lower estimates, particularly for the financials. >> it's not deep into earnings season yet. don't call the cards. i think that's why the tape shows the way it is. the uncertainty is there. sentiments to the upside, but people are waiting to see how it plays out, and we'll get a lot of economic data coming too. >> when they see it, then they'll know whether or not to believe it because the other sentiments to the upside, nice to have the numbers. >> believe it all this time. i think they will stay in. >> there you have it sounding on the mistake. onon the -- on the mystic, back to you. >> also to charlie brady too points out dell stock is still down 32% from the highs early last year even with today's move

so the stock still down 32%. all right, well, apple shares taking a hit today after reports that tech dine cut orders for the iphone5 orders. we are joinedded with more on the story. >> hi, tracy. shares of apple dipped down 3% where they have basically be audiotape -- all day long. a "wall street journal" lending a slot -- spotlight with the demand issues saying apple has cut orders nor some of the components including the four inch lcd screen made by sharp, lg, and others, and other components by half. this news signals that apple may be having trouble selling those new iphone 5's that came out last summer, and the company and its shares falling under the pressure of competition. now, the company has taken a back seattle in the second chair seat to samsung and its various portfolio products, and, in

fact, systemsung today announced sales of the samsung s series of smart phones hit the hundred million mark. they did that about a year earlier than the iphone did in reaching their hundred million mark, and now samsung is the world east largest provider of cell phones, even with this wall street seams to be calm about all of this news taking it in stride with the ubs analysts issuing a report today saying, quote, our analysts indicate no change. we expect a strong earnings report and see limited downside. this is about apple. they maintain their $700 price target saying that a lot of this news was already baked into the cake, meaning it came out sometime in early december, and amists had reviced figures downward. that's why you are not seeing a 10% drop against a 3% drop which is what we're seeing right now. >> you know how long it took me to convert to the iphone, and i have to tell you something, that samsung phone is so big,

it's like an ipad. i can't believe for a second that the iphone will go the way of the do do bird, i can't. >> so many nay sayers when that note came out, and people said why would anybody do this? as i was at ces last week talking about it, it's about the phablet, ph, because it's a phone and tablet. there's a consumer segment that doesn't want a tablet and a smart phone. they want one device, and samsung created that category and winning the market as result. >> create jeans with bigger pockets too because they don't fit. >> that's true. tracy: thank you. >> thanks. tracy: all right. breaking news. oil closing up 58 cents at $94.14 a barrel, a gain of two-thirds of a percent, getting closer to the $95 a barrel mark. okay. with roughly a month to go until the united states hits its debt limit, president obama's calling

on congress to raise the limit above 16.4 trillion dollars asap. republicans say spending cuts may be part of any -- must be part of any increase. who is going to win in this yet another congressional debate? gerri willis here. it's deja vu other than it's value -- valentine's day rather than new year's eve. >> the president was interesting today for a number of reasons, not that he changed his tune on the topics we talked about, but his tone was different, strident, more trying to cower republicans into what he termed the responsible thing. this is what the president had to say in the press conference. >> the debt ceiling is not a question of authorizing more spending. raising the debt ceiling does not authorize more spending. it just allows the country to pay for spending that congress

has already committed to. >> well, unfortunately, that authorizes more spending, and the history of these debt limit increase z is that every time we have a debt limit increase, then we spend all of that money, and we ask for another debt limit increase, and if you recall, some time ago when the president was in the senate, he said he didn't like when this happened. he's on record. he got a tough question about that today in the press conference and sort of ducked it, sort of tried not to answer the question, but speaker of the house, john boehner, out today with a response saying the house will do its job and pass responsible legislation that controls spending, meets the nation's obligation, and keeps the government running, and we'll insist the democratic majority do the same. i think we've entered this strange and odd period now where the president's constantly lecturing the republican minority, and that only insents

them further. it's not a strategy. have you heard of the term "a little sugar helps the medicine goes down." tracy: mary ppoppins. he says congress did it, but he signed it at the end of the day. it plays together here. >> con straintly points to the republican minority as the authors of this over spending when we know it's both parties over many years that have done this. >> his little signatures is the final tally. don't miss "the willis report" tonight at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. eastern right here. what's going on tonight? >> talking guns, an interesting quirk in obamacare now with ensurers saying that the amount of money that people are paying for care won't be enough so this is something that is not on anybody's radar today. we will be covering that story. tracy: good stuff. gerri, thank you. all right. we have the latest on dell for you. shares surging on reports they may go private. more on that next.

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fox business brief. the insurance companies started taking steps to deregister as a bank holding company. stars entertainment is soaring on the nasdaq debut after officially being spun off from liberty media last week. the stars channel owns encore and movie plex with 55 million subscribers. it could be a takeover target by a larger media company. in any event, toyota dethroning general motor z as the top auto maker. they retook the crown in 2011. that is the latest look at business from the fox business network giving you the power to prosper. ♪

tracy: all right. breaking news for you. dell shares surging, but they are off session highs. heading back to nicole on the floor of the new york stock exchange. what's the latest with dell, nicole? >> what's the latest with del, one thing we have to note here is that the stock remains here, not too far off from the highs of the day. the stock is up over 12% right now, a gain of a $1.34. a couple things to note. number one, the spokesman for dell says we do not comment on rumor or speculation. we backtrack and why we saw the pop. it was halted over in the nasdaq. the talk was that dell may be discussing going private with two firms according to people familiar. the question is whether or not they'd be able to do so. this is a $22 billion company, and the other thing to note here is michael dell himself, done plenty of television over the years, everybody's familiar with him, he i don't knows 16% of the share -- oh he owns 16% of the shares. there's a picture of him, a nice

baseball card for you. stock soars halted, underweigh the trading resumes, and still remains here well to the upside. back to you. tracy: thanks, nicole. all right. kenny, but they have birthed a new venture. creators of "south park," and "book of mormon" branching out informing their own production studio ya. dennis kneale covering the story. >> it's fun. the foul mouthed kids on "south park" have money to burn. trade parker and matt stone are the college buddies who created this 16 years ago on comedy central and famous for producing a huge hit on broadway, "the book of mormon," that politically incorrect musical won nine tonies in 2011 and grossed over $200 million. they are now forming a hollywood production company fueled by income from those two franchises and a $60 million investment

from outsiders. now, ever puckish, the pair named the company important studios, one of the first orders of business, to produce a movie version of "book of mormon," a hit so hot, you almost have to sell your first born child to that musical. it's a major move for the prank steer, smaller than george lucas film that disney bought. this starts out with a value of $300 million based on the initial $60 million investment. trade parker and matt stone will own 80% of the new firm. they talked in the "new york times" about the production company and had this statement, and i quote, having worked with several studios over the years, we came to realize that our favorite people in the world are ourselves. [laughter] i love these guys. tracy: i do too. i'm dying to see "book of

mormon." >> book of koran next, i'm sure they will at some point. tracy: if my son keeps acting up, i'm getting tickets. thank you very much. >> pouring money into the funds, and so, is there money to be made? shares of institutional business is next. ♪ ♪ [ cows moo ] [ sizzling ] more rain... [ thunder rumbles ] ♪ [ male announcer ] when the world moves... futures move first. learn futures from experienced pros

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tracy: let's follow-up on the breaking news. dell shares up nearly 14%.

charles payne is here with more. charles, you know, dell has been, like, basically every mutual fund that people hold in the 401(k). this is big news. >> gigantic news, and it's big news because fallen giants in tech look interesting here. research in motion making a huge move off the low, a big move sins friday. hp upgraded from a first tier firm, and now dell rumors. a lot never comes true, but in this particular case, there's a good argument from a business appointment of view and michael dell's point of view why he might want to go this route. tracy: get out of the microscope that is wall street. >> i'm not sure how much more he wants to be involved in this. it's been a tough road the last few years for the company, but they got the name, they got the sort of, you know, it's like the right sort of dill that they would be interested in. stock down dramatically and could command a premium. the stock is up 14% now, if this

is true, you could see this stock trade even significantly higher from where it is right now. >> as our senior editor pointed out, it's down like 32% from its -- over the year; right? it's still got a long way to climb back. >> a long way to go, but interesting too, i'm telling you, all of these fallen tech giants, you know, nokia, stock up huge from the recent low. riel up huge from the recent low. ph with a buy today. even without a deal, no doubt wall street is sifting through the ashes in the household names in technology that may or may not make sense, but look over sold, and you can put dell in the category. >> wonder if they come back; right? >> that's always what happens. they go private, year, maybe two, you know, diversify the business a little bit, a euphemism for anything that's to the making money. tracy: exactly. charles payne, thank you very much for covering that for us. >> you got it. tracy: investors poured a record $55 billion into emerging market

etfs last year, almost six times the amount put in 2011 according to black rock's latest report. are the developing economies engines of growth? here with the outlook is daniel gamba, head of black rock's ishare's institutional business. a big year last year. is it going to keep up? >> a great year for etfs and emerging markets. emerging markets grew about 50% year over year, and it was five times the close the year prior, and it happened both on equities and on debt, and we expect that this year will continue to be that. a lot of the growth came in the fourth quarter, and these actually continues towards now. tracy: if i'm not in emerging markets, it's not too late to get in? >> it's not too late to get in. evaluations still low in the markets. we also believe the growth of the emerging market is 5% to

5.5% gdp growth to a developed world which is 2% in the u.s., 1% in europe, and so relatively speaking we expect growth to continue to go that way. tracy: i know one of your favorites is brazil. low evaluations, cheap basically; right? but really reliant on china. does that worry you? >> so we believe that china actually is coming out of a great, low beginning of the last year, and it's ending very strongly. it actually reported very nice exports in december, and we believe that actually china has a growth of 7% to 8% this coming year which is going to actually favor brazil. we believe brazil is attractive on the midterm. we believe brazil is good the second half of the year because they are still fiscal reform going on in brazil as well as some of the -- there's a need for structure projects. it's coming.

there is a lot of excitement, but that's in the second half. interest rates have come down substantially as well in brazil. tracy: quickly talk about mexico, also a country you below there's optimism. >> yeah. so mexico, a new president came into office, has come with a lot of support. it is actually starting -- it started a labor reform, and it's actually has two big reforms on the plane. one is the energy reform, actually bringing investment into the country. we're bullish, actually, in mexico for the whole year. mexico -- tracy: equity index? >> equities, and the other part is obviously, china. we continue to get a lot of the close, a lot that you saw are coming on emerging markets, on em, which is emerging market, but also a lot in china, and we believe that will comet as well. tracy: good stuff, we'll take it. thank you. >> thank you very much. tracy: all right. dow is up a mere 20 points.

we got to follow this news, and cheryl casone is here to do it in the last hour of trading. a top expert on dell making the rounds, and the ceo of audi, how the luxury auto maker is revving up sales in the u.s. and china. a conversation with audi boss straight ahead. fox business exclusive. "count down to the closing bell" is down to the closing bell" is next. don't go anywhere. ♪ this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much. i appreciate it. i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally.